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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27315001">bloody and raw but I swear it is sweet</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/flight_on_broken_wings/pseuds/wytch-lyghts'>wytch-lyghts (flight_on_broken_wings)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Widofjord AU Excerpts [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Critical Role (Web Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Dark, Alternate Universe - Evil, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Angst, Archmage Caleb Widogast, Blood and Injury, Briarwoods AU, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, I projected just how unrepentantly sexy I think vampire fjord is onto caleb, Intimacy, M/M, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Suggestive Themes, Vampire Fjord (Critical Role), graphic aftermath of violence, widofjord, wound care</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 21:02:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,761</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27315001</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/flight_on_broken_wings/pseuds/wytch-lyghts</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>A low, displeased rumble began behind Fjord’s sternum. “That’s one of them?” he asked, dipping his head low to nuzzle at the soft spot behind Caleb’s ear, his breath ghosting cooly against the back of Caleb’s neck.</i>
</p><p>  <i>“She was,” he confirmed bitterly, forcing himself to look away. He never even saw her face clearly through the dark, though he didn’t think he recognized her. Perhaps she was younger. After his time.</i></p><p>  <i>Fjord hummed. “And now she’s dead,” he said flatly, tucking Caleb closer, resting his chin on his shoulder. “Like the rest. And all those before, and anyone else they decide to send after," he promised, his low tone growing colder, ending nearly on a growl. "Until eventually, they learn.” </i></p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Fjord/Caleb Widogast</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Widofjord AU Excerpts [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1988698</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>121</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>bloody and raw but I swear it is sweet</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Not ALL my titles come from Hozier but sometimes that's just the mood of the fic. Title from "Angel of Small Death And the Codeine Scene."</p><p>If you're not familiar with CR1 and the Briarwoods, all you need to know is they are evil, they are *the* married power couple, and they are so very sexy. And I think Caleb and Fjord fit their mold so very well.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The roar of the flames leaping unnaturally high into the late evening sky gradually lessened. The roaring heat in Caleb’s veins, arcane energy dancing across his frayed nerves, lessened with them as he let the wall of fire simmer back down to the charred earth, expunging itself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Blinking as his vision adjusted, Caleb kept his back to the carriage, squinting through the velvet midnight blue and darker shadows still cast by the trees raking across the quarter moon sky. He listened closely for Fjord, though he dared not call out. Magic humming at his fingertips, every fiber tensed as he prepared himself for the next explosion of arcane energy through the night. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But it was still. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And there was only quiet. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Even the birds and insects had silenced themselves. Or else they’d burnt with the rest of the heat-shocked grass that lined the remote road and the smouldering, ashy tree branches overhanging it. The horses had collapsed dead in their harnesses at the front of the carriage, the first to take the onslaught of arrows. Perhaps a few of those ridden by the king’s guards who had been sent to escort them safely to their destination had survived, though they had bolted far from the road, lost to the countryside the moment their riders had fallen and the field erupted into fire and the </span>
  <em>
    <span>screams</span>
  </em>
  <span>, their nostrils flaring at the scent of burning flesh.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But now those screams were only echoes in his mind. Quiet, save for the sound of his own ragged breath and the rush of blood behind his ears.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Caleb forced a breath into his lungs, cooler thanks to the light breeze that swept between the trees, ruffling his hair and muddied coattails. Blessedly quiet. He turned, surveying the carnage. Watching for any movement from the bodies strewn across the road. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Caleb?” The soft call came from behind him, voice touched by worry. Fjord’s voice. Caleb breathed a sigh of relief.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fjord hadn’t gone far from him as soon as they had realized what was happening, indeed, had not let Caleb go very far at all, putting himself between him and their would-be assassins as Caleb focused on the caster flitting through the treeline. Their guards, falling disappointingly quickly, did their best to pick off the archers. But as their last attacker fled, Fjord had dropped his falchion back into its ether and given chase, melting between shadows and moonlight seamlessly in terrifyingly easy pursuit. At the sound of his return but a few minutes later, Caleb let his hands drop back to his sides, turning to look over his shoulder. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He would never be afraid of his husband. Had no cause to be. But even still, the reflective gleam of Fjord’s eyes as they caught the light before even his silhouette diverged from the darkness—not quite right, </span>
  <em>
    <span>predatory</span>
  </em>
  <span>—sent a thrill of hindbrain, instinctual fear up his spine. There was a glimpse of fluid movement, a faint rustle in the brush, and then Fjord emerged from the trees, dragging the limp form of his quarry by the upper arm alongside him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Here,” Caleb breathed, stepping away from the cover of the carriage. He peered through the dark, looking Fjord once over, though beside the already mending wounds to his shoulder and forearm, his evening coat rent and bloodied beyond saving, Fjord seemed to move unhindered. Caleb took another breath, allowing himself to relax. “I am alright.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fjord grunted quietly, unconvinced.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shield your eyes,” Caleb cautioned as Fjord stepped up onto the road. He waited for Fjord to turn his head away before, with a wave of his hand and a few muttered words, he summoned a softly undulating orb of light overhead. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Even ten or so paces away, when Fjord lifted his head again he kept his eyes narrowed, pupils barely pinpricks and irises whiskey-dark amber more than the gold they had once been. He tossed his heavy burden against the wheel of the carriage with unnatural ease, limp body landing with a dull thump, only the low groan of the man now slumped, unmoving in the dirt alerting Caleb of the fact he was still alive. Surprising, considering the crimson smear around Fjord’s mouth and chin he was now cleaning away with his sleeve, and the torn, bloody mess of a bite wound in the neck of their survivor.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was probably for the best. He had questions, and Caleb suspected there was little left of the mage.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Still, there was plenty that could be learned from corpses.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Taking another deep breath and wiping the burn of the smoke from his eyes, Caleb started forward on shakier legs than he would’ve liked, picking his way around the bodies strewn in the road and the weeds. A half dozen or so were wrapped in dark leathers and cowls, distinguished clearly from their escorts, their once gleaming armor mangled and bloodied. Except for those who failed to fall back at his warning. Theirs was blackened and scorched just like the rest. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Vaguely, Caleb considered when he’d stopped feeling disgust, near paralyzing, tying his insides in knots at the smell and sight of charred bodies. Though… perhaps that wasn’t right. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He covered his nose and mouth with his sleeve, grimacing. Disgust he felt plainly. Guilt, he did not.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was too tired, too sick of this game for </span>
  <em>
    <span>guilt</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Caleb arrived at the smouldered husk of the mage crumpled at the edge of the treeline, not much left that was recognizable, he stooped to pick up a longsword that had been dropped by one of the king's guards. Prodding at the crumbling robes of the woman with the tip of the sword—he’d thought she’d been a woman at least, catching only the barest glimpses of her in the light of the spells and the fire arcing between them—he investigated only long enough to sift out the gleam of metal at her collar. Its enchantment rendering it safe, untouched by the flames, he briefly considered a quick Detect Magic to confirm it but there was no need; he recognized the amulet she had worn around her neck, the very same Caleb had worn in all his years of service to the Assembly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The very same Assembly which had turned its eyes away from sculpting children into weapons in the name of king and country, yet could not stomach a little bit of necromancy behind closed doors, all those years of unquestioning service be damned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hissing in frustration, Caleb threw the sword aside. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Verdammt noch mal</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” he swore darkly, backing away too quickly in his displeasure, his heel catching on a deep rut in the road that threatened to send him sprawling. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’d hardly begun to stumble, inhaling sharply in surprise as he felt his balance go, when he felt Fjord’s solid weight against his back, holding him steady.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Careful,” he murmured, wrapping his arm around Caleb’s middle from behind, fingers splayed possessive across his ribs. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Caleb huffed, his jaw clenched nearly painfully. He didn’t lean into Fjord’s chest once he’d righted himself, resentment burning hotly in his chest, though he didn’t pull away from his husband either. He forced himself to exhale slowly. To find his words. “They won’t leave us </span>
  <em>
    <span>alone</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” he hissed, his teeth grinding. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A low, displeased rumble began behind Fjord’s sternum. “That’s one of them?” he asked, dipping his head low to nuzzle at the soft spot behind Caleb’s ear, his breath ghosting cooly against the back of Caleb’s neck. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She was,” he confirmed bitterly, forcing himself to look away. He never even saw her face clearly through the dark, though he didn’t think he recognized her. Perhaps she was younger. After his time. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fjord hummed. “And now she’s dead,” he said flatly, tucking Caleb closer, resting his chin on his shoulder. “Like the rest. And all those before, and anyone else they decide to send after," he promised, his low tone growing colder, ending nearly on a growl. "Until eventually, they learn.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Caleb swallowed. Said nothing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you need this one?” Fjord asked, extending his boot to nudge the Volstrucker’s corpse cooling at their feet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Caleb considered it, but shook his head. There were no questions he might ask of her specter that she would answer. “Nein.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Slowly, Fjord turned them, his hands sliding down Caleb’s sides to settle at his waist. “How about that one?” he asked, jerking his chin in the direction of the carriage and the barely moving form crumpled beside it where Fjord had deposited him. “I left him alive for you. Mostly. If you have questions.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Caleb took a deep breath, letting it go with a heavy sigh. As the adrenaline and lingering arcane energy humming through his veins faded, the sudden onslaught of violence having come to a decisive conclusion, and as his anger abated, he was just tired. He was always tired, but now he was in pain and resentful and crashing as the exhaustion settled into his bones. There they stood in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by corpses and the early dark of an autumn’s night, still miles outside the city’s gates, most certainly about to be late to the King’s table, which despite their invitation and desperate need for allies was suddenly the last place he wanted to be. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Caleb dropped his head back against Fjord’s shoulder. “Maybe one or two,” he admitted, closing his eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mm. And then let’s go home,” Fjord said, as much an offer as a request. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Bitte,” Caleb sighed, never more grateful. “Let’s.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Without any further prompting Caleb straightened up and started forward, casting his small, floating orb of light ahead of him to avoid any more sprawling roots or limbs or divots in the road. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He only got a few steps back in the direction of the carriage however when Fjord called out to him – “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Caleb</span>
  </em>
  <span>” – tone alarmed enough to make him stop and turn, scanning for any movement, any danger before his eyes returned to Fjord, who had not moved even a step to follow him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In the low light now barely reaching him, Caleb saw Fjord standing frozen, his hand held before him, the same he’d just had wrapped around Caleb’s middle, now slicked with dark crimson. He raised his fingertips to hover at his lips and breathed deeply, his eyes growing darker, pupils blown wide as they fixed on Caleb. And Caleb knew, even before Fjord put a finger to his lips to taste, that Fjord knew. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am fine, Liebling,” he sighed. “It bleeds worse than it –”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He did not get to finish the thought before Fjord was upon him, faster than ought to have been possible. Caleb got no say in the matter, a strangled note of surprise caught in his throat as suddenly Fjord had swept him into his arms like he weighed nothing, cradled to Fjord’s chest. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“– actually is,” he grumbled, rolling his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You should have told me,” Fjord warned, low and displeased, gliding quickly toward the carriage. “I didn’t think it was yours, not at first. You should have told me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dramatic,” Caleb muttered. “It’s a scratch.” Though he rested his head against Fjord’s shoulder all the same. There was no one to see it, no one who was paying attention or who would be alive for much longer anyway, so there was no harm in allowing it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fjord remained silent, though the brooding displeasure rolled off him in waves. He crouched again to set Caleb down as gently as he could on the steps of the carriage door, as good a place to sit that wasn’t the dirt as any, careful not to jostle the long, admittedly painful though not deep or by any means life threatening wound where a blade had run across Caleb’s ribs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Just to their side, still in the charmed and blood-loss induced daze that Fjord had left him in, sat the last of their attackers against the wheel of the carriage, head hanging low, blood still leaking from the ugly wound Fjord had left on his neck. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Caleb exhaled slowly, sizing him up, and ignoring his overly concerned husband as he set about unbuttoning Caleb’s coat to get a better look at the injury that lay beneath it. “That looks painful,” he said, inclining his head at the nameless man. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fjord paid him no mind, not until he was satisfied that Caleb wasn’t going to bleed to death. “He struggled,” he grunted. “And ruined the coat you picked out for me,” he added in a huff, mouth turning in disdain, like of the two the latter offended him most. “I was being efficient.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A warm laugh bubbled up from Caleb’s chest. “You’ve never taken a chunk out of </span>
  <em>
    <span>my </span>
  </em>
  <span>neck.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fjord stopped dabbing the handkerchief he’d procured at Caleb’s wound, plainly visible through the clean cut the blade had left in his shirt, his gaze heavy as it flicked up to meet Caleb’s. He raised a curious, if confused eyebrow. “I take my time with you, dear,” he murmured, the hint of a smirk curling at the corner of his mouth. “And he was not </span>
  <em>
    <span>quite </span>
  </em>
  <span>so cooperative.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Caleb let himself smile faintly at that, his head settling back against the door of the carriage, not quite comfortable whichever way he tried to rest there. “I think I’ve ruined more of your clothes than that man,” he recalled, keeping his voice low, enjoying how Fjord’s eyes darkened as he watched him, seemingly humored, though much too interested to be strictly endeared. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After only a moment though, Fjord cleared his throat, returning his attention to the rend in Caleb’s side. “Take that as a point of personal pride, do you?” he asked, only meeting Caleb’s eyes sparingly, and after another moment of fussing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Caleb smiled, but let the exchange lapse. The ache at the back of his skull was hardly improving, and his energy was best directed elsewhere. “Could you encourage him to be a little more cooperative now, Liebling?” he asked, tilting his head toward the slumped figure. “We really ought to be going.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fjord rocked back on his heels where he crouched, putting the bit of cloth into Caleb’s hand and pressing it to his side to get him to staunch the bleeding himself for a moment. “You’re able to get us home?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Caleb fixed him with an unamused look. “What do you take me for?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fjord made a quiet noise, something like affection as he brushed his knuckles over Caleb’s cheek, tucking a stray bit of hair behind his ear. Caleb let his eyes drift closed, leaning into the soft touch. “Half out of your mind,” he answered, only slightly patronizing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Caleb huffed. “It’s not </span>
  <em>
    <span>that </span>
  </em>
  <span>much blood.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He wasn’t watching, eyes still closed and head tipped back against the carriage, enjoying the cool night air against his overheated skin. So Caleb was left to interpret the silence as Fjord giving him that flat, unconvinced look he was rather fond of. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re flirting with me, in the dirt, in the dark, surrounded by corpses and a man who just tried to kill us,” Fjord deadpanned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Caleb snorted, disagreeing. Perhaps he was a bit lightheaded, which did not pair well with what was becoming a throbbing pain that lanced through his skull with each heartbeat, but that was nothing he couldn’t work through. Or that he hadn’t dealt with before. Caleb didn’t doubt that the tightness around his eyes revealed more to Fjord than he would have liked. “Has something changed?” he asked. “You never seemed to have a problem with it before.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After a moment’s silence, his eyes still closed, Caleb nearly flinched at the brush of Fjord’s fingertips over his temple, stroking gently through his hair. “What was the spell that woman hit you with?” Fjord asked, his tone difficult to read.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ineffective,” Caleb exhaled, which was truthful, to a degree. “I am fine.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Caleb.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Frowning at Fjord’s tone, Caleb blinked his eyes open, peering through the dark to settle on Fjord’s face again, illuminated by the low glow of the single light floating overhead. His husband was looking at him expectantly, his brow furrowed with concern. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Caleb tried to ignore the sense memory of that sudden, sickly streak of green colliding with his side and tearing up his spine, exploding at the base of his skull. Like a white hot iron scraping, prodding deep into his mind. Tried to shove aside the oppressive fog that still lingered, even after he’d resisted the worst of it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Caleb.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Whatever Fjord saw on his face, by his insistence, he didn’t much like it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Feeblemind,” Caleb sighed. “It – it did not work, it –” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fjord’s eyes went wide the moment the name left his lips, flaring first with anger and, underlying that, fear, open and undeniable. It was enough to make Caleb falter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Liebling,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” he gentled, reaching out for Fjord’s shoulder the same moment Fjord shifted closer, taking Caleb’s hand and squeezing as he brought it to his cheek, clasped tightly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He held Caleb’s gaze as he pressed a kiss to the thin skin at the inside of his wrist, holding it long enough that cloying emotion crawled up Caleb’s throat, dry and constricting.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He cleared his throat, closing his eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When his voice returned to him, it returned too quietly. “Fjord…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fjord drew in a slow, deep breath. “I know.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was too much to be said, yet that look nearly encompassed all of it. They had made it through. They were together. They were home. And they would not be pulled apart again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gods knew Caleb would not survive it a second time. Feeblemind would be preferable. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please,” he asked. “Just ask this arschloch who he is, Clasp or Myriad, and which of my former colleagues hired him,” Caleb grumbled, blinking his eyes open and wincing, extinguishing the light floating overhead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That got him a tired, fond smile, just enough moonlight to trace the edge of it with his thumb, his hand still clasped in Fjord’s. “Right.” Fjord cleared his throat, squeezing Caleb’s hand once more before dropping it and rolling up to his feet. “We should be getting out of here as soon as we can.” He hesitated. “Don’t go anywhere.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Would not dream of it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Caleb watched with interest, resting back against the door of the carriage as Fjord stepped the short distance to the side to stand before their semi-conscious captive. Stooping low, one of Fjord’s hands gripped the collar of his leather breastplate, the other curling around his ruined throat before Fjord lifted the man to his feet with ease, not that he seemed to bear any weight, the half-elf only held aloft by Fjord’s strength pressing him against the wall of the carriage. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The poor bastard gasped back to awareness weakly, not quite struggling, but grasping at Fjord’s wrist and the wood behind him for purchase, eyes glazed over and skin going even paler from the effort. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fjord leaned in close, breathing deeply at his open wound, his sharp smile all fangs. “Did you hear him?” Fjord purred, his voice suddenly richly interwoven with that heady layer of magic that came naturally to him now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Even just overhearing, Caleb felt the charm his words carried brush warm and welcoming over his mind, his exhaustion suddenly settling heavily, and soothing some of the residual ache. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I have some questions for you.” Fjord’s attention was on his quarry, and yet his eyes darted to Caleb—dark, intelligent, his lips curled into a knowing smirk—as he lowered his head to scrape his teeth lightly, toyingly over the unbroken skin above the man’s struggling pulse. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Caleb closed his eyes, shaking his head, though the image was one that stuck behind his eyelids.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Flirt,” he accused, turning his face away. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is it working?” he heard Fjord murmur, low and seductive against another man’s skin. It had Caleb’s breath catching in his throat. Gods, he didn’t have a clear enough head for this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Caleb exhaled, letting his head tip back further, his throat bared to the cool night air. He was practically able to </span>
  <em>
    <span>feel </span>
  </em>
  <span>Fjord’s eyes on him as he swallowed. “More than you know.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fjord’s answering chuckle was quiet, breathy: “Good.”</span>
</p><p><span>*</span> <span>*</span> <span>*</span> <span>*</span> <span>*</span> <span>*</span> <span>*</span> <span>*</span> <span>*</span> <span>*</span> <span>*</span> <span>*</span> <span>*</span></p><p>
  <span>The words of the Teleport incantation had hardly left his lips before the stone floor resolidified beneath their boots. The air was cool, the coals in the hearth barely flickering, the bed unmade and wardrobe doors hanging open, all just as they’d left them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Caleb slumped against Fjord’s chest, letting his head rest more heavily against his shoulder, never more grateful for his steady presence and the arm curled around his waist that kept him upright as Caleb’s knees went weak and vision darkened, hazy around the edges. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Easy, I’ve got you,” Fjord whispered against Caleb’s temple, wrapping his arms around him a little tighter and giving him a moment to collect his bearings. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Caleb groaned in pain. It had been manageable before the Teleport, but this new exertion which strained the limits of his reserves, which plucked and stretched the already frayed threads preventing the arcane energy humming beneath his skin from splitting free at his seams, summoned a fresh wave of agony to press against the inside of his skull. Mumbling curses in his native tongue at whoever was responsible for designing Feeblemind, that particularly vile spell, he closed his eyes tightly, pressing his face into Fjord’s collar. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She knew what she was doing, huh?” Fjord asked of the Volstrucker Caleb had dispatched in a fit of pain and frustration, flames lashing out, half-blinded by the psychic energy trying to tear his mind apart.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At least the worst of that particular sensation had passed. Caleb was loath to relive it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Cheated,” he mumbled, his fingers winding tightly into the back of Fjord’s coat. He forced a deep breath into his lungs, holding it and exhaling. Drew in another. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fjord just hummed something placating, gently carding his fingers through Caleb’s hair, long fallen loose of its tie. Caleb didn’t protest as he was scooped up into Fjord’s arms for a second time that evening, simply wrapped his arms around Fjord’s neck and let himself be held. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let’s get you cleaned up,” Fjord said quietly, carrying Caleb across the carpet smoothly, careful not to jostle him too much. He shouldered his way through the door into the hallway, already ajar. The master bedroom was not a long walk to the washroom, but it was far enough down the hall that Caleb wasn’t certain his legs or nausea for that matter would let him make it there on his own. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Speak for yourself,” Caleb muttered, poking at the bloody tear in the shoulder of Fjord’s coat, although, as expected, the skin he found beneath it was entirely whole again, smooth and cool to the touch. Finishing what Fjord had begun with the last of the Volstrucker’s hapless hired help had seen to that. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His petulance earned him a low rumble from Fjord’s chest, his expression much too soft, smile too fond for as bloody and miserable as their night had turned. “Caleb, love,” he chuckled, “I think you should stop talking and let me take care of you for once.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Caleb hummed, considering it. “Might be nice,” he sighed, and let them fall back into a comfortable silence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Either too tired to open his eyes or else just shielding them from the torchlight that only seemed to make his headache worse, not sure which was his primary motivation, Caleb kept his eyes closed, cheek pillowed comfortably against Fjord’s collar. He felt Fjord move, counting his quiet footfalls against the stonework until finally Fjord pushed the washroom door open with his hip, letting it swing closed behind them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ever so gently, Fjord deposited Caleb in the seat in front of the basin and mirror he used to shave, pressing a quick kiss to the crown of his head before stepping away with a quiet, “Stay put.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Caleb hummed his assent, blinking his eyes open cautiously. The candles situated throughout the room in their stained glass holders would have normally been enough to wash the small room in a dancing blue and green glow, though Fjord only moved to light a small handful, barely enough for Caleb and his lack of darkvision to watch as Fjord began to peel himself out of his ruined evening coat and shirt, the once white, crisp material no longer salvageable. He dropped both in the corner of the room, his movements quick and perfunctory, though Caleb hummed appreciatively all the same, earning him a sly glance but nothing more. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’ve only gotten more attractive since you’ve started being able to carry me around everywhere,” Caleb informed him, letting his head loll against the back of the chair as he watched, only partly joking.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fjord shook his head, picking up one of the delicate glass decanters from the table beside the large, brass bathtub and plucking the stopper free. “You’re embarrassing yourself,” he chastised, turning his back to Caleb, ostensibly to begin filling the tub from the enchanted decanter, the stream of water unending and blessedly already steaming. But he turned slow enough that Caleb saw the faint, smug grin curling across his lips.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If you say so.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Caleb let his eyes drift shut again, leaning back in his chair comfortably. He let himself enjoy the dark; the quiet sounds of rushing water and Fjord’s low humming as he moved about his preparations; the warmth as the steaming bathtub began to heat the small room; the faint brush of Fjord’s fingers across the back of his neck that had Caleb blinking awake into near darkness, realizing he hadn’t meant to begin drifting off.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Caleb chased after the touch, leaning into it. He hummed to himself, pleased, when Fjord began to knead gently at the nape of his neck. Letting his eyes fall closed again, he sensed Fjord crouching beside him. Shivered at the unexpectant brush of Fjord’s lips at the corner of his jaw, only trailing lower as Caleb tilted his head back, encouraging it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is it </span>
  <em>
    <span>just </span>
  </em>
  <span>that I’ve been able to carry you around everywhere?” Fjord asked, his voice damn near a purr, dropping low and suggestive in Caleb’s ear.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>No. No, that did not even begin to encompass it. But if he tried putting that dark thrill to words now, well, he believed he would actually embarrass himself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Still, he might have said something, would have grinned at least if the scrape of teeth against his pulse hadn’t taken him by surprise. Caleb groaned his not-quite-complaint, tilting his head back further into Fjord’s hand, swallowing as that drag of teeth turned sharp just for a moment, soothed by the gentle kiss Fjord left lingering there after it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s not fair,” Caleb rasped, his hands fumbling to find Fjord in the dark with no more specific an intent than the litany of </span>
  <em>
    <span>closer</span>
  </em>
  <span> and </span>
  <em>
    <span>more</span>
  </em>
  <span> and </span>
  <em>
    <span>now </span>
  </em>
  <span>that his exhausted mind stumbled over itself to demand. But Fjord was elusive, his low chuckle nothing but irritating as he pushed Caleb’s hands away. The next gentle tease of teeth and tongue to the edge of his jaw pulled a near whine from the back of Caleb’s throat. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hush,” Fjord chastised, sounding far too amused for Caleb’s liking. He nipped at that soft spot below his ear, making Caleb’s head spin. “Let’s just get you out of these bloody clothes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Caleb hummed his enthusiastic agreement, straightening up in his seat to accommodate Fjord’s efforts as he felt his hand sliding up over his shirt, pushing his coat off his shoulders. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fjord laughed at him, breaking some of the tension between them. Taking his forearms, he helped lift Caleb to his feet, the brush of his cool fingers down his chest and over his wrists as he diligently unbuttoned his shirt and cuffs more distracting than it had a right to be. Caleb hardly made it easy for him, divesting him of the rest of his blood and ash stained clothing just as efficiently. He swayed closer, pawing shamelessly at Fjord’s bare chest and hips, quite content to make himself a nuisance.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fjord swatted Caleb’s wandering fingers away from his belt a second time. Hypocritical considering he knelt to make quick work of Caleb’s boot buckles, holding Caleb steady as he gently lifted each knee to tug them off, and, rising again, worked Caleb’s trousers down a moment later. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fair is only fair,” Caleb muttered, discontent with their unequal states of undress.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fjord pressed a light kiss to his cheek rather than respond and nudged him in the direction of the waiting tub instead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Grumbling, he acquiesced. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>With Fjord’s hand on his shoulder, Caleb moved more by touch than by sight, sinking into the steaming water. His low, unabashed groan as the heat eased the soreness in his limbs tapered off in a hiss as he sank low enough for the water to meet his open wound, but he relished it the sharp sting as it faded quickly, a pleasant numbness prickling across his skin in its place. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“See?” Caleb said, indicating to where the water lapped at the long, shallow laceration running across his ribs. “Not so bad.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fjord seemed less certain, his lip caught between his teeth as he took a clean cloth and further inspected the wound with a little more diligence and care than the efficiency with which he’d gotten Caleb into the tub. As gently as he was able, watching Caleb for any discomfort, Fjord cleaned away blood and fibers from his torn shirt to reveal faint bruises running parallel to the injury. Still, nothing to fret over.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fjord sighed heavily, sinking back on his heels, his forearms resting on the lip of the brass tub. Even with the muted candle light and his only human eyes, Caleb could see the furrow in his brow. Knew him well enough to detect the tension he carried between his shoulders. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Careful not to aggravate his side too badly, Caleb leaned back against the slope of the tub, laying his forearm along the rim of it such that he could twine his fingers through Fjord’s, resting his cheek atop his arm to be level with Fjord’s gaze. “This is minor,” he whispered, serious, but too caught up in the quiet intimacy born of the dark and the small space between them to raise his voice much above that. He waited for Fjord’s dark amber eyes to meet his. “And not your fault.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fjord bowed his head to press his lips to the back of Caleb’s hand, turning his head to face Caleb and resting his cheek atop their entwined hands. “Partly,” he murmured, “it will always be my fault, as long as they come after us.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No,” Caleb corrected, a deep wound, only partly healed, reopening in his chest where his heart should be by just how honestly Fjord meant it. “No. You do not get to take credit for my broken ties to the Assembly.” He paused, trailing his fingertips over the line of Fjord’s jaw with his free hand, droplets of water trailing down his skin in their wake. “They </span>
  <em>
    <span>killed </span>
  </em>
  <span>you, Fjord. Indirectly or no, they did. And any destruction I caused, any rules </span>
  <em>
    <span>I </span>
  </em>
  <span>broke in my grief are mine to bear.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A complicated expression passed over Fjord’s face, softening with a terrible sadness Caleb could only wish he had some means to dispel. “You shouldn’t have had to give up everything you ever worked toward for me,” he said simply. “A seat on the Cerberus Assembly… that’s a rare thing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I gave up nothing,” Caleb reminded him. “My taste for that sort of power crumbled to ash in my mouth. It is worth nothing to me. Nothing,” he hushed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So you prefer this?” Fjord asked, a weak smile gracing his lips. The doubt in his voice had been diluted, just enough teasing on the surface to hide how desperately he still sought reassurance. “Looking over our shoulders? A life spent living in hidden and ugly places they haven’t thought to look yet? They just proved that not even Emon was far enough away for their liking.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Caleb let the question hang in the air a moment, blinking slowly at his husband, not as he pondered an answer, but as he amazed over just how foolish a man he married. He cast his eyes around the dark room, watching the dispersed patches of blue and green light dancing across the stonework and brass, illuminating the side of Fjord’s face and his eyes in a faint glow. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is not so ugly,” he disagreed, freeing his hand from beneath Fjord’s cheek to rest it at the side of his neck, thumb stroking lazily over the hinge of his jaw. “I prefer </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>, mein Herz. Always.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fjord huffed quietly, a soft exhale of breath, protesting the declaration. His expression had shifted again though. Something more at peace. “You get yourself into too much trouble for me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Caleb’s smile softened, waiting for Fjord’s gaze to return to him so that he might know he meant it. “I would remake the world for you, Liebling.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fjord closed his eyes, shaking his head. “You’ve done enough of that already, I think. For me, anyway.” Slowly, he shifted around to Caleb’s back, fingers sifting gently through the tangles in his damp hair and kneading at some of the tension gathered at the base of his skull. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Caleb hummed his approval, sinking back against the slope of the tub, leaning into Fjord’s touch. “Whatever happens next,” he began, letting his eyes drift close as Fjord began to nudge his shoulders down deeper into the water, scooping it to let it run through his hair, “my former colleagues are not going to like what happens should they run us out of options for a peaceable parting of ways.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Unfortunately, I think they see you, us, as something of a loose end,” Fjord said, brushing each word against Caleb’s temple. “I think if a peaceable separation were on the table it would’ve happened already.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think perhaps you are right,” Caleb sighed, content despite the conversation as Fjord nuzzled affectionately at his cheek. “But if it is a war they want, then by every damned thing in the Nine Hells, I will wage it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fjord huffed, shaking his head. “Maybe start smaller than that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mh. Maybe. Perhaps removing a few of my colleagues from the equation will simplify things.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s possible,” Fjord agreed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I will burn the Assembly Hall down around their heads if that is what takes.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for reading, don't forget to kudo or drop a comment, they make my day :) Catch me on twitter for more widofjord <a href="https://twitter.com/wytchlyghts">@wytchlyghts</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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